Sonic The Hedgehog Reboot
by Tankbain
Summary: I'm throwing my hat into the ring to make a Sonic the Hedgehog reboot. A story version of the game I would make. Rated T for Violence.
1. Chapter 1

This is an story idea that has been rolling around in my head ever since I heard the game over thinker's ideas for sonic. I will admit that he spawned the idea for it so much of the beginning will be based on his spitball idea for a sonic reboot.

I've felt for some time that if any series needs a reboot it's this one and this story will basically serve as throwing my ideas into the ring for said reboot. So if you wish to read this do so with the knowledge that everything you know about the games is malleable to me at this time. I will be trying to keep the personalities of the characters intact, and the characters that seem to have had several throughout the cannon or appear in several cannons I will be choosing the one I like best, or just making up my own. With that in mind, let's get this party started.

**Chapter 1 Sonic Boom**

The crack of thunder rolled across the barren landscape of the Red desert. One of the most featureless landscapes on all of Mobius the normally tranquil place had been split by several earth shattering booms over the last few hours. Sonic the hedgehog was board, and when he was board only one thing could cure it; Speed. The wind screamed past his ears and the dust stung his eyes, but this was as close to soothing meditation he ever came.

Sonic's short blue fur and similar colored spiny quills were pushed back by the fierce wind cause by his movement. His red sneakers were a blur as his feet propelled him along. His tan belly was near parallel with the red ground that zipped past him at incredible speed and his equally tan muzzle was fixed in a cocky smirk.

He pored on the speed, moving his feet ever faster; arms forced near strait back by the g forces and turbulent wind alike. Another crack shattered the air as he broke the sound barrier yet again. He had been running for hours, slowing down and then speeding up just to send the sonic boom across the desert just for fun. "I am amazing" he thought for the hundredth time today.

Throwing out a leg to change direction, Sonic made a sudden ninety degree turn, letting the dust that had been kicked up behind him fly past and blasted off in the other direction directly towards a cliff.

He glanced back to see the dirt devil he had cause for just a few seconds, then leaped off the cliff deliberately. Time seemed to stand still for a few moments as he hung in the air for what felt like, to him, an eternity, more of the desert lay below him broken only by several pillars of red stone. The open land gave way after several miles to a massive forest whose name he had never bothered to learn.

Within the brief seconds of hang time, he had plotted his way down to earth. He instinctively touched the two gold rings he wore on his wrists to tap into their power.

"Here we go…" he said to himself.

Sonic then balled up into a tight summersault, spinning a great speed. Blue energy surrounded him in a protective shell and he was propelled forward by the power of the rings, guided by his will. The connected with the first tower of stone, launched off it with his feet, leaped to the next, then back. Leaping between the two pillars he quickly found his way to the ground. As soon as his red sneakers hit the ground he was off again, a sonic boom following closely in his wake. Behind him the pillars, having been knocked off balance by his acrobatics, began to collapse towards him. Thinking it would be no fun if he just out ran the falling stones, Sonic slowed down and began the intricate dance of dodging stones two to ten times his size.

Left, right left, roll, duck, jump, dash, side step, right again.

Dust rose in a great cloud that could be seen for miles. A single line of dust escaped the wreckage, the blue hedgehog at its head.

Once he had put some distance between him and the dust cloud he put on the "breaks" and let his own dust trail settle around him. Once it cleared and he could see the results of his dare devilry his smirk only got more lopsided.

"To slow gravity, better luck next time." He quipped.

He took a few moments to admire his handy work, and just as he was about to take off and sound another boom across the land he heard a much more subtle sound. A yell, coming from the forest, not just any yell. Was that…a child?

Sonic tried hard to hear the noise again. There it was another yell. Someone was in trouble, and it did indeed sound like a young Mobian. His first instinct was to just let whomever it was deal with their own problems. After all, wasn't that what he had always done? He had yet to face anything that his speed could not simply just take him away from. However, this sounded like a child. They weren't expected to deal with their own situations yet were they? Sonic stood for several moments in indecision, and before he had realized he had made up his mind, his red sneakers were taking him into the forest towards the cries.

The trees made it impossible to top out his speed, but he still made excellent time, pausing only a few moments to zero in on the cries for help. Soon he found himself in a meadow full of flowers and grass, but more noticeably a large robot.

The machine moved on two legs and sported two arms as well. It stood about twenty feet tall and had no head, but a single "eye" line in the center top of its torso. On its shoulders were two huge metal boxes full of rockets. Under one arm was a cannon, and under the other was a gatling gun. On its back were two metal bars that stuck out as a slight upward angle. Currently the underside of these bars were glowing and spouting fire as it used them for clumsy flight.

It seemed to be trying to catch something out of the air at the movement, jutting an arm out and slamming its fist shut like a trap, only to come away empty handed as the small, flying, orange object it was after struggled to get out of the way. It looked like…a fox?

Shaking off his usual desire to not get involved, he speed forward strait at the metal monster. Touching the rings on his wrists, the energy field wrapped itself around him becoming more powerful as he built up speed. With tremendous force, he leaped up into the air and slammed strait into the robot's right flight bar. The thing was immediately off balance in the air and landed hard with an earthquake like crash.

"Hey chrome dome! I would tell you to fight someone your own size but nothing around here is as big and dumb as you so looks like I'm the only choice. Let's see if you can catch some hedgehog!"

The machine reacted immediately by aiming its gatling gun directly at the blue menace. The gun span up and began to fire, but sonic was already gone. The bullets hot on his heals, Sonic ran a wide circle around the machine, power building up in the rings. He suddenly stuck out his leg and changed direction heading straight at the robot. The blue energy field surrounded him and he slammed strait into its leg tearing it off with him, the momentum carrying it into the forest ware it landed with a crash.

"Oh, to bad!" yelled Sonic.

The robot fell down, but caught itself with an arm. It pushed itself back onto its one leg and balanced itself out.

"Want some more big guy? Here I come!"

Sonic curved back around, and darted strait at the machine again grass and flowers flying in his wake.. This time the machine was ready and slammed a huge metal fist down at the creature, but missed entirely. Sonic had jumped at the last moment, as he two had been ready for the attack. Above the behemoth, he was spinning, his quills out and the blue energy again surrounding him.

"Can't catch me!"

Sonic came down like a cannon ball smashing into the hunk of mettle and sending bits of armor in all directions.

The robot was driven into the ground but still functional. Before it could recover, sonic was coming at it again, building up speed, then somersaulting at the last moment, the robots gatling gun arm was severed at the shoulder as if by a saw.

"SYSTEM DAMAGE SEVERE. COMPLEATE SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINATE!" cried the hollow metallic voice of the machine.

Knowing victory was close Sonic ran straight at the machine again, but stopped just short of its torso-head. With a smirk on his face he could not help but indulge is ego a bit.

"You didn't really think you could beat old Sonic the hedgehog did you bolts for brains?"

"Mister! Mister!" cried the fox cub he had come to save some ware behind him.

"Oh hey kid! Are you…" he began turning

"No you don't understand you have to…" but his words were cut off by an earth-shattering boom.

Behind him the robot had exploded in self-destruction. Sonic found himself flying through the air. The ground and sky traded places several times until the ground made up its mind and came up to meet him. With a sickening thud, Sonic landed awkwardly. For a few moments, the world was pain. His vision blurred and the last thing he could remember seeing was the worried face of a fox cub standing over him.

"Don't worry mister!" the cub called to him from far away. "I'll get help! Your gona be all right…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Village of Heart Wood**

Sonic swam through the thick soup of unconsciousness. He knew the surface was close but he could never quite seem to get to it. He could hear voices but did not recognize them. No, he recognized one. That fox cub...

"I saw it with my own eyes!" the boy said

"I'm telling you that would be impossible," said a gruff older voice.

"No no really! He ran really fast like _shooom!_ And then _wham! Crash!_ The leg flew off!" replied the younger cub

"Miles are you sure? That just doesn't…" began a female voice

"You saw the thing! Or the crater anyway, but if you had just let me show you the leg…"

"We didn't have time," said the gruff voice again. "Not if you wanted to save him."

Sonic drifted back into an uneasy sleep. Some unknown time later he felt someone touching him but faintly, almost like through a thick sweater.

"How could he have done it?" said the female voice. "We don't have anything short of weapons platforms that can damage an M class war-bot."

"That's not true, I've been known to put some dents in them and I've seen Dulcy…" said the gruff voice but was cut off

"Not like this…that leg was torn clean off like it was a toy. This hedgehog…something is different about him."

"You mean besides the fact that he is blue?"

"Your almost crimson and your saying _his_ color is strange?"

"Well, yea..but my family has been exposed to strange energies for generations and.."

"no need to get so defensive Knuckles I was just making a point."

"Hey" said Sonic weakly. "Mind keeping it down? I'm trying to get my beauty sleep."

He hurd the female gasp and the touching stopped.

"Your awake!" she said

"Yea but just barely." Replied Sonic. He smacked his lips. "Can I get some water?"

"Sure, absolutely!" she said. "Knuckles keep an eye on him." And Sonic hurd her dash off.

A creaking sound next to him told Sonic the gruff voice, Knuckles, sat in a chair next to him.

"Where are you from hedgehog?" he said, little sympathy in his voice.

"Elsware, what's it to you?" replied Sonic

"I'm not playing games with you," said Knuckles the ice in his voice worse than if he had yelled. "I want to know how you destroyed that M class war-bot and where you are from."

"I…." it suddenly occurred to Sonic he had no idea where he was from. He had never really thought about it before. Strange really. That should be something he knew. Perhaps he was more out of it than he realized.

Quick footsteps told him the woman had returned.

"What's going on? Knuckles are you interrogating him already?" she said

"I was just trying to find out some things." He said, the chair creaked as he rose out of it.

"Good gods Knuckles the poor guy is barley conscious and you're acting like he is a criminal! He saved Miles's life you know."

"Your far too trusting Sally. What if it was a trick to get him in our ranks? I still don't believe he tore that M class up."

"Oh you paranoid Echidna, can't you just accept that he was in the right place at the right time?"

"Ok, I'll give you that. It's a possibility but…"

"Hey," croaked Sonic. "Can I get that water before we start twenty questions again?"

"Oh! right." Said the woman

Soon she was sitting next to him helping him drink. It was amazing how sore he was. Likely would have been red-hot pain, but they probably had him on a pain killer. Once the water was finished he could feel sleep covering him like a blanket again.

An unknown amount of time later he found himself awake again. Much more aware of his surroundings he was able to open his eyes and focus. He was in a small room, looked to be made of wood with a thatched roof. An Iv was sticking out of his arm and he pulled it out without even thinking about it. The bed he was on was small and appeared to be made of bamboo. Several machines sat in the room displaying various figures and charts he assumed were his vitals. Feeling like he was fine, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. After a moment or two of dizziness he was able to steady himself.

He checked his wrists for his power rings finding them still in place. Sonic found his sneakers at the end of the bed. Slipped them on and opened the door of his room. It lead to a hallway with several doors lined up on either side. At one end of the hall was an open door way that lead outside onto a small stoop. A warm breeze was blowing soothingly in from it. He decided to head outside.

Outside he was met with the sight of a small village. People went about their business carrying baskets of fruits or bread. Some were idly chatting with one another, while others were touting…guns? Sonic shook his head thinking it might have been from the painkiller but no; these people were carrying blaster rifles all right. Quite a few of them actually. Not all of them had them shouldered like guards, some had them casually slung over their backs, but there was no doubt this place was well armed.

Sonic began to stroll through the village, a feat of great patience for him, and look around. It looked like there were very few, if only small, families in this place. In fact the more he looked around the more it felt like an army base than a peaceful village. He could see an orchard with various crops in several states of harvest, an open air bakery and fire pit for cooking, a community well and some other village amenities. However he also found a workshop with several weapon platforms in various states of repair, an armory (guarded by several mean looking boars with guns) and even a shooting range that was not in use at the moment. The village was surrounded on all sides save one by steep cliffs. The village seemed to be part of the forest. Trees were every ware and seemed to grow wherever they pleased. In fact Sonic didn't see a single cut tree.

His pondering of where they had gotten the wood to build the place were interrupted by the familiar gruff voice of Knuckles.

"Feeling better hedgehog?" he said unamused.

Sonic had one foot on a rocky stairway that headed up into the cliffs. He hadn't really been paying attention ware he was going, lost in thought as he was. The Echidna's fur was indeed an interesting color of red all over his body accept his muzzle which was tan like Sonics. His quills were hanging down strait off his head much like dread locks. Most notably however were the large spikes that extended from his Knuckles, two on each hand, likely the origin of his name. He wore sneakers not unlike Sonic's, and a scowl on his face that told Sonic this was a no-nonsense type of guy.

"Oh yea, never better thanks!" he said. He approached the Echidna with what he hoped was a friendly smile, but was really more of a cocky smirk

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog" he held out his hand to shake Knuckles's. Knuckles glanced at it but did not break eye contact for very long.

"You shouldn't be out of bed yet…Sonic. You're not fully healed yet." he said

"Oh come on, I feel fine." Said sonic stretching out his legs for emphasis, which did cause him no small amount of pain. It must have shown on his face because the Echidna did not seem impressed.

"I have a lot of questions for you." He said "Why don't you come with me and…" but he was cut off by the female voice Sonic remembered from earlier.

"Oh good Knuckles you found him!" An attractive female squirrel was running towards them. Wearing blue boots and a similarly colored open denim jacket. Her fur was a rich brown with lighter coloring on her chest and muzzle. A mane of red hair bounced on her head as she ran. Most striking of all were here luminous blue eyes.

She was panting a bit as she reached them.

"You need to get back in bed this instant." She said with genuine authority.

Knuckles seemed to be about to say something, must have thought better of it and kept his mouth shut.

"Who am I to argue with a pretty face like that?" said Sonic with a shrug. "Lead the way your highness."

Knuckles and Sally's eyes both got huge for a moment. Knuckles placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder a bit rougher than may have been called for.

"I think we should have that talk _now_" he said. Sonic knocked his had away.

"You can't tell me what to do Knuck Knuck, so hands off if you wana keep um."

Knuckles narrowed his eyes and looked almost like he was about to strike Sonic when Sally spoke up

"He's right Knuckles, we have no right to keep him."

"I…he…what?" said Knuckles all his fight turning to shock.

"He's not our prisoner, he is a guest. He has the right to leave when he wants." She stated flatly. Even Sonic was taken aback.

"However, Mr. Hedgehog…" she started but Sonic interrupted her.

"You can call me Sonic." He said

"Sonic then. I would ask that in gratitude for us saving your life that you do sit with us and talk for a bit. We would like to get to know you a bit more and have some of our curiosity sated."

Sonic considered for just a split second. "I would love to sit and have a chat with you. " he said

"Good." Replied Sally. "Knuckles could you please bring him back to the medical building and make sure he won't pass out in my hut, and then bring him over. See if you can't get some of those red fruits they were harvesting this morning."

Knuckles seemed a bit put out at being asked to baby sit the hedgehog but he agreed. Knuckles said nothing to Sonic as they headed back to the medical hut, which suited the hedgehog just fine. He had nothing to say to the sour puss anyway. The doctor at the hut looked Sonic over and declared him fit enough to be out of bed, but strongly recommended he take it easy for another few weeks.

Knuckles then took him to an unimpressive wooden hut, almost identical to all the others in the village. He knocked on the door and Sally called them in. She was sitting at a small table, barley big enough for two, and motioned for sonic to sit opposite her. He did so, Knuckles produced a chair from some ware and sat just off to the side.

"Knuckles did you bring any of those fruits?" she asked. Knuckles was surprised by the question as he had clearly forgotten.

"No sorry." He said

"That's all right." She said. Getting out of here chair she opened a cupboard and removed a loaf of bread, and a bit of cheese. She cut the two food items and placed them on the table. The all nibbled at the food a bit despite Sonic being ravenously hungry he tried to show some restraint.

"Now then Sonic." She said after they had eaten a few bites. "How did you come here?"

"I was just running in the Red desert and herd someone in trouble." He said. "I ran to help and found some flying kid under attack from a robot. So I ran in to help, made a stupid mistake and got hurt. You would know more about it than me from there."

"You were just running in the Red Desert? Who goes running in a barren wasteland?" said Knuckles the skepticism thick in his voice.

"Just me I think." Said Sonic. "Course I'm probably the only one who can cross it in a day."

Sally and Knuckles looked at each other in disbelief.

"How do you do that?" she asked

"I told you, I ran." Replied Sonic, leaning his chair back. All this sitting around and slow moving was getting on his nerves.

"No one is that fast." Said Knuckles.

"No one cept me." Replied Sonic.

"Exactly how fast are you?" asked Sally disbelief creeping into her voice as well.

"I can show you if you like." Replied sonic.

"Sonic I'm sure the doctor said you shouldn't…" began Sally

"No, let see just how fast this hot-shot is." Said Knuckles

"You're on Knuck Knuck." Said sonic already out of his chair.

The three went outside, where the sun was starting to go down.

"Let's say 10 laps around the orchard." Said Sonic trying to work the stiff and soreness out of his legs.

"I'm not going to be out here all night" said Knuckles "The orchard is about a mile square."

"Have faith," said Sonic with a smirk. "Be back before you know I'm gone."

Before either of them could rebut him Sonic was gone. His injuries slowed him down for sure. He was probably only going about a quarter of his top speed. This irked the blue hedgehog quite a bit, but the more he tried to push it, the more his limbs cried in protest, so he let himself keep it slow. He finished his run in just under a minute, winching as he ran back to Knuckles, sally, and what looked like about half the village.

"That, that was amazing!" said Knuckles eyes wide.

"That was nothing." Replied Sonic. "If I wasn't so banged up I would really blow you away."

"Your _faster_ than that?" said Sally jaw agape.

"You bet your pretty blue eyes I am." Replied Sonic with a thumbs up.

Knuckles and Sally exchanged a glance.

"How fast are you exactly?" said Knuckles with what sounded like excitement in his voice.

"Can't really give you a number Knuck, but I break the sound barrier like it was glass."

Knuckles smiled for the first time Sonic had ever seen.

"Why don't you stay in Heart Wood for a while? We will make sure you heal up right and are taken care of. Food, water the package deal." Said the Echidna

Sonic was suspicious of Knuckles sudden change of disposition but was never one to turn down free food.

"Yea, all right." Said Sonic.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Rebel Hedgehog**

Sonic could run as super-sonic speed, leap several meters in the air, wall jump up or down sheer walls, and even tare robotic limbs from their sockets, but the hardest thing he felt he would ever have to do was "take it easy." After the ancient badger of a doctor had found out about his run, he threatened to tie Sonic down to his bed until the hedgehog's wounds were fully healed. After many promises from Sonic and assurances from Sally the physician had relented, but warned he would be watching.

Unable to relive his boredom with sheer speed, Sonic had been forced to find other means of entertainment, most of which was more accurately called work. He helped harvest some of the crops, repair shelters, weed gardens, carry supplies and anything else that needed doing. It was "super lame" at first, especially when he caught glimpses of Knuckles watching him with a knowing smile on his face, What he would have given to knock that look off the smug echidna's jaw. But soon he found he was looking forward to helping the villagers, and even enjoying himself. Many of them villagers were interesting to talk to, or at least had a good sense of humor and were fun to tease.

One day as he was hauling wood into the village with an older Boar named Devin, a ball rolled into his path. Unable to see it due to the pile of wood in his arms, Sonic tripped over it, stumbled a few feet, nearly lost the wood pile, then finally got control of himself. Looking arownd to find the offender that had been so careless he saw several young Mobians come running over, at their head was a two tailed fox that Sonic recognized immediately.

"Sorry mister! The ball got away from us!" said the young cub

"That's all right." Said Sonic dropping the wood pile ware the old boar indicated. "No harm done."

"Hey your suppose to be super fast right?" said a small badger "Why don't you come play with us?"

The young fox looked bashful at this but said nothing.

"I would love to kids, but I've got a lot of work to do for Mr. Boar." Said sonic with a shrug

"Oh, go have some fun." Said the gravelly old voice of Devin Boar. "My old bones can haul my own lumber for a bit. Besides, if Doctor Gunther finds out about all the work you have been doing he will be most upset." The boar snorted involuntarily.

"Well, all right, if you're sure Mr. Boar." Replied Sonic.

The old man waved his hand. "Be gone with you young man, don't play to hard."

Sonic smiled and went off with the children. They showed him how to play their game, a slight variation on soccer. The blue hedgehog moved at a painfully slow speed to make if fair, but did take it up a notch every now and again. He looked up to notice Knuckles watching him from the side of the field once, no smug smile on his face this time, but not un-approving ether.

Sonic learned all their names but he was most interested in Miles, the two tailed fox he had saved from the M class war-bot. The young cub was an orphan, his parents taken during the rise of the nefarious Dr. Robotnik. The young fox was orange like most of his kind, with a white muzzle, tail tips and small tuffed of fur on his chest. He wore small worn out sneakers. They talked a bit as the sun went down and Miles friends were called off to supper. Sonic and Miles made their way back to the village, ball tucked under Miles's arm

"Robotnik? The guy who took over Metropolis a few years ago?" said Sonic

"Metropolis?" said the young fox confused. "Oh! You mean Robotropolis."

"Oh right he renamed it." Replied Sonic.

"Yea, they were trying to escape his army the night of the coup and they got caught by the patrols." Miles was obviously saddened by the even, but showed courage as talking about it did not even make his eyes water.

"I escaped because of my flying. They didn't expect it." He said with some pride. "Someday I'm going to be a rebel freedom fighter just like Knuckles."

"That flying sure is something." Said Sonic. "How do you do that anyway?"

"Oh it's easy!" said Miles putting the ball down. "I just wind up my tails like this…" Miles wraped his two tails around each other. "Then I spin them like this…" Miles's tails span very fast and lifted him off the ground.

"Way cool big guy!" said Sonic genuinely impressed.

"I can lift lost of wight with them too!" said Miles eager to impress and dropped down. "Grab my hands."

Sonic did so and was surprised to find himself lifted off the ground with little to no effort on the part of the fox.

"Wow, that is amazing!" said Sonic

Miles put Sonic back down and landed next to him.

"My name is Miles Prower by the way." Said the small fox picking the ball back up.

"Yea, I heard the other kids saying it to you." Said sonic. "but I don't think it fits you very well. Someone as cool as you needs a nick name"

"Oh neat! What nick name should I have Sonic? How about Roater or or… orange crush or…"

"How about Tails?" said Sonic after a moment of thought.

"YEA!" yelled Miles "That perfect!"

"All right then." Sonic picked up a stick and laid it across the foxes shoulders as if knighting him. "Henceforth, you shall be known as Miles "Tails" Prower, but Tails for short."

"Awesome! I can't wait to tell everyone!" said Tails. He lunged at Sonic and hugged him. "Thanks Sonic, your super cool."

"That's what they tell me." Said Sonic hugging the youth for a moment.

"Ok, well I have to be off or Aunt Sally will scold me for being late to supper." Said Tails. "bye Sonic!"

"Catch you later big guy!" replied Sonic waving as the fox left.

Sonic smiled to himself as he walked back to the medical hut ware he had been staying. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so happy, and he hadn't even ran faster than 100mph in the last week. These people, this village it felt like…home. The though startled him. He had never had a home, not one that he remembered anyway, but that didn't make sense. Surly he had a mother, a father some ware, at some time. The thought gave him a head ach so he let the subject drop. Night fell as he reached the Medical tent. People were talking in the doorway. It sounded like Knuckles and Dr. Gunther.

"We don't have any more time Gunther. He has to be ready now." Said Knuckles.

The badger sighed."I suppose he could run, but its not one hundred percent that he won't hurt himself again. He's not back to full yet Knuckles."

"We don't have a choice, if we don't move now Heartwood is doomed. We will have to move everyone and…"

"The emerald." Finished Dr. Gunther.

"Shhh. Not so loud. Not everyone knows about that especially…"

"Hey guys, what's shaking?" said Sonic announcing himself.

They both looked startled. Dr. Gunther walked off hastily.

"Done playing with the children?" said Knuckles

Sonic opened his mouth to retort but Knuckles held up a hand

"Never mind, come with me. I need you for something."

Sonic shrugged and followed the red echidna. They walked away from the village into the woods. They were rather spooky after dark. A light fog was forming on the ground and strange night animals called to each other through the darkness.

"Not planning on murdering me in the dark are ya Knuck?" said Sonic with a small laugh.

"Not tonight." Replied Knuckles

Sonic didn't say anything else. They soon reached a large stump that looked like it had seen better days.

"Listen to me Sonic. What I'm about to show you can never be repeated to anyone outside of this village. Robotnik and his cronies would, and have, killed to learn what I'm about to show you. Unless Sally changes her mind, you are free to leave when you wish, but I implore you to leave this information behind when you do."

"Sure Knuckles, the hedgehog lips are sealed." Sonic mimicked a zipper on his lips.

"This isn't a game Sonic, I mean it. No one can hear of this."

"Oh for gods's sake Knuckles just let him in already." Said Sally from behind Sonic. She seemed to materialize out of the fog.

Knuckles made an angry sound but nodded. He reached down and lifted up the stump with some difficulty. The stump was on a hinge and sat to one side when Knuckles was finished. Under the stump was a hole in the ground with wooden steps that lead down into the ground.

"Come on then." Said Knuckles, ice in his voice.

Sonic and Sally followed him down into the hole, the stump closed behind them.

"Miles told me about your game today Sonic." Said Sally.

"Oh yea?" said Sonic

"It was very nice of you to befriend him like that. He doesn't have much for friends in Heartwood."

"Why is that? He seems like a cool enough kid."

"It has a lot to do with the deformity of his Tails." Replied Sally. "Some of the kids make fun of him, and to tell the truth he is a bit embarrassed of them, and the fact that his had no parents."

Sonic felt a twinge of guilt. "If he is so embarrassed of them why did he let me give him the nick name Tails?"

"All he talked about over supper was how you weren't put off by his tails. To him, I think it legitimizes him. It makes his uniqueness something to be proud of." She said

"I don't understand." Said Sonic

"To children, adults are the truth, by you telling him his tails are not 'weird' but they are 'cool', tells him in a way that the children who make fun of him are wrong. He's not literally thinking that of course, but it means something to him."

Sonic thought about this while they walked along the tunnel. It was cold and a bit damp. It smelled heavily of earth and tickled his nose. Soon they entered a room with several other's huddled around a holo table. A large computer sad against one wall, another tunnel next to it lead off some ware else.

"Welcome to the headquarters of the Freedom Fighters of Mobius Sonic Hedgehog." Said Sally.

Knuckles went to stand next to the table. Sally did the same and Sonic followed her.

"All right everyone, Knuckles and I called this emergency meeting because what we feared has come to pass." Started Sally instantly shifting to seriousness. Several people shifted nervously.

"Robotnik has dispatched new patrol units to Power plant Gamma 1. We fear this means that they are going to sweep the forest soon." An image of a massive steel structure appeared on the holo table before them.

"This shows the most recent in tell we have on Power plant Gamma." Said Sally

Around the building were numerous robots and floating vehicles zipping around like bees.

"What about the scanner disruptors?" said a large Tiger with a blaster riffle on his back. "They should keep us from detection when they start there sweeps."

"They only work on long range scanners Ruffus." Said Knuckles shaking his head. "If they move close enough with short range scanners we will light up like a city. The cat frowned.

"Well if we attack the Plant won't that tip our hand? Won't they know they are getting close?" said another freedom fighter.

"We don't think so. We hit targets all the time seemingly at random, this will just look like another strike." Said Sally

"That's all well and good." Said Ruffus, "but how are we suppose to hit the plant we can't get through the force field."

"_We_ don't," said Knuckles and pointed to Sonic. "_He_ does."

"What? I didn't agree to this. What makes you think I can get past a force field?" said the hedgehog taken aback.

Sally pushed a few buttons and the image zoomed out to show a silver flickering dome over the structure.

"Because the shield that the Power plant has is called an oscillating force field." She said pushing a few more buttons. The image slowed down significantly. The dome became less solid and finally showed four lead lines turning slowly on a central axis.

"It works like a high speed fan." Sad Knuckles. "If you try to go through one of the 'fins" will knock you back and out, but if someone were fast enough…"

"They could zip through without getting touched." Finished Sonic looking more interested.

"Exactly" said Knuckles.

"We will give you pack full of explosives. You will set them here, here and here." Said Sally pointing to several places on the image that lit up red. "This will disrupt power output enough that the power plant won't be able to support the additional units, forcing them to fall back while it is repaired"

"and that will take months." Said Knuckles with pride.

"Ok, sounds like fun!" said Sonic

"Wait wait," said a porcupine with a grenade belt strapped to her chest. Sonic recognized her from when he had helped her harvest some of the fruit. "I know Sonic is fast, but no one can out run that patrol forever. They will detect and nail him eventually.

"That's where we come in." said Knuckles. Sally manipulated the holo table to zoom out then back in on another structure. "This is a chemical plant ten miles from power plant Gamma 1. If we strike it before Sonic is to infiltrate the power plant, the majority of the defensive forces will be siphoned off to defend it."

"So we're going to be a distraction for the hedgehog?" said Rufus with some contempt.

"It's either that or we start packing up and find a new place to live, and a hundred living targets on the move are a lot easier to spot and shoot than a secure, secret base." Said Sally.

Rufus shifted his riffle uneasily. "All right, I'm in, but I'm going on record as saying I don't like it."

"Noted." Said Knuckles. "Sonic, are you willing to help us in this?"

"I don't know Knuckles" said Sonic, the prospect of running again having lost his luster after the mention of getting shot at. "I never signed on to this little band of rebels, and no one asked me before I was made the key to this little plan."

"Sonic…we need you to do this." Said Sally "Everyone in this village is counting on you."

Sonic closed his eyes in thought for a few moments. He tried to think about running away, he ran away from everything. Nothing could catch him, he could leave and never come back. but no matter how fast he ran, he would never outrun the face of Dr. Gunther that saved his life, all the people who had taken him in and made him feel at home, or the young fox that looked up to him. For the first time Sonic had found something he could not outrun; Guilt.

"Alright I'll do it." He said

The group cheered, causing tinny bits of earth to fall in on them.

"Then its settled." Said Sally. "Rufus, take Sonic over to the armory and get him set up with a pack of d7 explosive charges."

Rufus bowed. "As you wish."

"Knuckles get the team ready to move to the chemical plant. Penny, you are on dispatch duty."

The porcupine saluted. "Of course Sally."

"Let's move everyone, I want to be off the ground by 2300 hours."

The next few moments moved very fast, just the way Sonic liked it. Before he knew it he had a bag full of explosives on his back and was flying in a hover ship over the pitch black florist. He was the only one in the transport accept the pilot, a goose with an aviator's jacket and goggles. The ship lurched a few times dropping them a few feet out of the air.

"Sorry about that new guy. The old hover ships have seen better days they will stay in the air."

Sonic tried to keep his diner down.

It wasn't too long before they touched down and Sonic happily put his feet back on the ground.

"I'll meet you back here at 0200 Sonic Hedgehog." Said the goose. "Stay frosty." The engine sputtered and he the ship rose back into the air.

"Not hard in this weather." Said the Hedgehog to himself. The night was indeed frosty, and Sonic soon found himself doing stretches in an attempt to keep the heat in his blood.

A garbled voice came over the ear piece he had been given.

"This is bee hive, repeat this is bee hive all units call in, over."

"This is red dog, all units in position and ready to move on your order bee hive. over." Said Knuckles

"This is hot foot, ready to put the pedal to the metal. over." Said Sonic.

"Bee hive confirms Red dog and hot foot. Operation Thunder Storm is a go, repeat operation is a go."

"About time…" said Sonic and he was off like a shot.

Sonic boom trailing behind him Sonic pushed himself as hard as he could to test his boundaries. He still wasn't able to get to top speed, but he was over the sound barrier. The cold wind in his face was suddenly a blessing as he relished the sheer joy of his speed.

The structure soon came into sight. It was much more massive than the tinny holo table had made it look. It was nestled in a dug out crater, the building sat on large metal stilts that anchored it to the ground. Numerous cords ten feet in diameter emerged from all sides of the building, diving into the earth to come out miles away to power various other buildings, the chemical plant being one of them. The cables had flat metal tops attached to them, seemingly to protect them from falling objects, perfect for running on. Sonic observed the structure, and soon had a path in mind to get him to it once he was past the shield.

Robots were every ware, they hadn't noticed the little hedgehog in their midst yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time.

"Red dog, this is hot foot. I'm in position and ready to make my run. Over." Said Sonic in a whisper

"Hot foot this is red dog, we are commencing the attack now. Move when you are clear to do so. Over."

Sonic waited for several moments. Suddenly a loud buzzing alarm began to sound. Sonic thought he had been caught at first, but then the hover ships filled with robotic soldiers formed up and took off to the west ware Knuckle's force was attacking.

"Time to rock" said Sonic and bolted out of cover.

He could see the shield coming up. Watching carefully he could see the lead lines just like in the image, the energy trailing behind them. He would have to catch up to the lead line get past. He poured on the speed, kicking up a large trail of dirt behind him the sonic boom causing the shield to ripple like water. He caught up to the lead line, passed it then cut hard in front of it, clearing it by mere feet.

"No problem." Said Sonic "Red dog, this is hot foot. I'm in. If you have time I can do it a few more times."

"Stop kidding around Sonic, the faster you get done the faster we can fall back." Replied Knuckles, blaster fire could be heard in the transition.

Sonic blasted back to where he had seen his way in. He leaped off the cliff onto the cable top maintaining his speed. Behind him the cable was snapping up like a whip, or a wave. In no time sonic had reached the main structure. With a mighty leap he landed on one of the stilts that held the structure up, leaping again to another stilt he was able to make his way up to the main floor. Hanging from a bar of metal, he was able to locate a hatch and flip himself up and in. The air stank of exhaust and ozone.

Sonic removed the schematic Sally gave him from his pack and located his position. Plotting a coarse to the nearest drop point, he put the schematic away and took off.

The halls were wide, and went on for a long way, making it easy for sonic to blast down them. He soon found himself in the main distributer room, where the power was sent off to its various destinations. He pulled out one of the explosives that looked like a cylinder with a key pad on it. Remembering what Rufus had taught him about setting them, he punched in 3 minutes, checked his watch, and got up to speed off to the next drop point, but was stopped by the sound of blaster fire.

Sonic back flipped just in time to doge a bolt of energy that scorched ware he had just been standing. Above him on the catwalks were several humanoid bots with blasters attached to their arms pointed at him. They were black in color with domed heads and red lines for eyes that glowed menacingly.

They fired several more times at the hedgehog who dodged and flipped out of the way. Remembering that the catwalk might be the best path to the next drop point he touched his power rings to activate them, having been charged up from his previous run.

"Sorry guys, I'd love to stay and play, but I have places to be." He leaped into the air in a summersault focusing on one particular bot, then found himself flying strait at it. Bits of metal and robotic innards flew every ware as his attack hit home. Sonic located another, and another bouncing off of the targets like he was made of rubber, the blue energy ripping them to pieces. With path cleared Sonic bolted down the open doorway at the end of the catwalk, the force and sonic boom causing the rest of the cat walk to collapse behind him blaster bolts flew widely as the bots fell with it.

The base was on high alert now, but it didn't matter, the war-bots could not respond fast enough to the super-sonic hedgehog. By the time they responded to his attacks the was already two drops sites ahead of them.

After the final drop he had about one minute left before the first explosive detonated.

"Time to blow this chillie dog stand." Sonic said to himself. He stopped a moment to pull out the schematic of the facility. He found himself in a small control room of some kind. Outside the observation glass he could see a massive molten fireball of some type not unlike the sun. Looking it up on the schematic he realized this was the power core. Sonic smiled to himself.

"Why should I mess with explosives when I can just detonate the entire power core?" shaking his head at Knuckles and Sally's oversight he started to look over the console. Finding the controls for the cooling system he shut them down. Within seconds, red lights filled the room and alarms were blaring all over the building.

"Hot foot this is red dog, we just got alarms for evacuation what's going on over there. Over?"

"Chill red dog, I just set the core to overload, I'll be long gone before it can go nova. Over."

"You IDIOT!" screamed Knuckles. "There are robotisized workers in that facility and my team can't get out in time! "

"Allright allright calm down Red dog I'll just set the cooling back…" but he was cut off by a loud thump behind him.

Turning around he found a cannon pointed strait at him. Sonic ducked and slid just in time to have a rail gun shot miss his head and slam into the control console.

"I'll call you back red dog I've got a problem." He said as he slid under the bot's legs.

"Sonic! SONIC!" called Knuckles, but the earpiece had slid off.

The war-bot turned to face Sonic with alarming speed. It was an M Class bot like the one he had saved Tails from.

"Oh hey I think I know your brother." Said Sonic. The war-bot's gatling gun spun up and fired, sonic out ran it, but soon found he could not get up to top speed, the room was simply to small, but that didn't stop his arrogant quips.

"No really, I know him! Tall really ugly, made of scrap?" the war bot lunged with its fist smashing a hole in the armored metal walls.

"Whoa! Nice try but close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades pal."

Robots were supposed to have no emotions, but Sonic could swear he was getting on its nerves.

The fist slam left the machine open to attack, Sonic taped into the power rings and bashed the bot with a homing attack. The machine stumbled back, but was mostly undamaged by the attack.

The dance played out for a while, bullets unable to find there mark but close enough for Sonic to feel the heat, the occasional rail gun shot punching its way through the armored walls, but missing anything organic and squishy, and frustrated fist slams leaving large gashes in the nothing more than steel.

The fourth homing attack found a good mark as it shattered the war-bots "eye". It still functioned but barely.

"No, I lied," said sonic. "You're much uglier than your brother." Sonic realized with the last attack that he had depleted the last of the stored energy in the power rings. He would have to work up some speed to power them up again, but there was simply no room in here to do so.

The war-bot flailed wildly trying in vain to strike the infuriating little hedgehog. Then Sonic realized how he would take this thing down. He jumped onto its head.

"Yo tin grin up here!" he yelled.

The bot moved to swat him off but sonic leaped off at the last second. The blow stopped short of striking the machine but it spun around to find Sonic standing on the destroyed control panel just in front of the shattered observation glass a massive smirk on his face.

"I'm waaaiiiiting." Said Sonic

The bot lunged at him with its fist, yet again missing its mark as Sonic slid under the several ton machine. The blow carried the bot to far forward, leaving it leaning out of the window. Sonic rolled to his feet, cut back and leaped onto the bot, pushing it with his feet and sending it off balance into the massive molten spear. The bot was liquid metal before it had even realized it had been beaten.

Sonic found his earpiece and put it back on.

"All units this is red dog! Emergency retreat! Move move move!" Knuckles was yelling

Sonic looked around quickly, he could see another control panel on the other side of the core. He couldn't go through the core if he wanted to stay in one piece. He located a path on the schematic and was in the room within seconds. He pushed the cooling controls to maximum. The alarms continued, but the indicators showed the core temperature was coming down.

"Few that was a…" but he was cut off again as the entire building was shook by the first of the explosives.

"Oh nut bunnies!" said Sonic. He only had 20 seconds between each explosion. He started running accidently dropping the schematic.

Sonic could not for the life of him find a good escape route on his own. He finally found himself on a cat walk overlooking a massive pool of some kind of chemical. The room was full of its foul smell and great amounts of heat. Looking up he could see the stars and realized he must be in the cooling tower. For a moment he thought he might be saved, but realized there was no room to build up speed to run up the tower, and it was too wide to wall jump up.

"Oh boy, this might be it blue boy." He told himself as another explosion went off some ware in the structure. The cooling tower lurched to one side, nearly spilling Sonic into the cooling vat.

"Sonic!" cried a voice over the noise.

Sonic looked up to see a fox over the cooling tower opening and diving to him.

"Tails? What are you?"

"No time! Grab on!"

Sonic didn't hesitate and leaped to the fox who grabbed his hands. Flying as fast as he could Tails sped them out of the tower as if fell apart around them. He didn't stop climbing until they were a good hundred feet over the structure. Fires were every ware, fire crews were far too busy trying to contain them to notice the flying fox and blue hedgehog.

"Whooo…" Sonic let out a long sigh. "Thanks little buddy, you really saved by bacon."

"Anytime Sonic." Replied the Fox with a proud smile.

"How did you get here from Heartwood? Not that I'm ungrateful but you shouldn't be here." Said Sonic

"Well I…stowed away in your ship. I wanted to see how fast you really were. I jumped out after the pilot dropped you off and was in the air again." Said Tails shyly

"Well I'm sure glad you came." Said Sonic after a few moments to let his nerves calm down he spoke again. "So how fast was I?"

"Oh wow you were amazing! Seeing you run through the shield and then along the power cable…you were like shoooom! And the cable was all..." and it continued all the way back to the pickup point.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Knuckles**

The drop ship returned Sonic and Tails to Heartwood after making sure it had not been followed. The sun was just coming up as it touched down just outside the garage. Tails had to endure a lecture from the pilot for what seemed like an eternity for stowing away and putting himself in danger. Sonic had tried to speak up for him a few times but the pilot would have none of it. Thoroughly annoyed by the time his feet touched the ground Sonic was headed off to his bed when the pilot reminded him that Knuckles had to debrief him at the base. Tails ran off to Sally's hut, apparently she acted as his surrogate mother.

Sonic ran to the stump that hid the base at about 1/5th speed, lifted the stump and headed in. As he approached the war room he could already here people talking and some moaning. As he entered the room he saw that many of the occupants were in various stages of being treated by Dr. Gunther and his team. None of them looked to have any life threatening injuries, but still it was quite a depressing sight. Sonic was met with several angry glairs.

"uh…ware is Knuckles?" he asked the Room

After an uncomfortable moment the tiger answered. "He went to the storage room further down to oversee the weapon unloading.

"Thanks." Replied sonic and headed down the far hall. The tiger grunted in reply

Further on the tunnel open onto a large cat walk, at least ten feet wide. Metal stairs lead down into a large cavern filled with various boxes, components and anything the freedom fighters obviously felt would be useful. Knuckles was standing with Sally watching several people unloading what they had taken for the mission. Knuckles caught sight of the blue hedgehog and immediately his eyes seemed to burn with fire.

"Knuckles…Knuckles wait!" said Sally but he was ignoring her.

"You! You nearly got us all killed with that little stunt of yours!" Knuckles yelled, an accusing finger pointed at Sonic.

"Hey chill man, the core didn't go up. I was too fast for it." Sonic said with the wave of a hand.

"That's not the point you ignorant buffoon! You let the core heat up long enough I had to order a retreat!"

"So? Wasn't that the plan anyway?" replied Sonic

"We weren't ready! We had a plan to…"

"Did anyone die?" interrupted Sonic, starting to become upset himself.

"No but that…" started Knuckles

"So what's the big deal?"

"Whats the big deal? WHATS THE BIG DEAL?" Yelled Knuckles his arms waving in the air. "Not one of my people walked out of there with ought taking some damage! If we hadn't practiced for an emergency retreat we would have all been dead because of YOU!" he poked Sonic in the chest hard at the last word.

Sonic glanced at Sally behind Knuckles, it was obvious she felt the same way, though she likely would have been more tactful with her words. Sonic batted Knuckles's hand away.

"Come off it Knuck Knuck, you and your people are fighting a bunch of homicidal war-bots and it's _my_ fault when someone gets a bit messed up? Give me a break."

"you…you…" Knuckles stumbled on his words for a moment. "You just don't care do you? You wouldn't have lost a lick of sleep if me and my men had been vaporized! All you care about is yourself!"

"Knuckles I think…" Sally broke in but Sonic spoke over her.

"That's all I ever had to do before you all pulled me in to this madness!" replied Sonic now fully enraged. "All I wanted to do was get on my feet and take off, but you needed me for your little war." Sonic pushed Knuckles. "Don't think I don't know you were only being nice to me so you could use me to further you own schemes. From what I hear of him you're not better than Robotnick."

Sonic never even saw it coming, before he knew what had happened he was sailing over the rail of the catwalk, having taken a hay maker from Knuckles. Sonic hit the ground hard and had the wind knocked out of him. He herd Knuckles land behind him.

"I may be a lot of things, and I admit that I used you, but never EVER compare me to that monster." He said with ice in his voice.

Sonic coughed as the air returned to his lungs.

"I don't know, gain a few pounds and the resemblance would be uncanny." Said the blue hedgehog as he got to his feet.

"Knuckles don't…" Sally said from above.

"Don't start with my Sally!" called Knuckles without taking his eyes off Sonic. "I'm gona knock some sense into this hot shot."

"You can sure try…" said Sonic and touched the rings on his wrists. He was taken aback when nothing happened. With a jolt he remembered he had used up there energy in the power plant and hadn't yet gotten the chance to recharge them with his speed.

Knuckles smirked as he saw the surprise on Sonic's face. Without a word the assault began. Knuckles threw punches with skill and speed. Sonic was able to use is own speed to counter the blows, but it was obvious he was in a losing fight. Sonic moved to gain some distance, use his speed to ram Knuckles or power up his rings, but the ware house was too crowded with boxes and junk for him to gain any momentum. Sonic threw his own kicks and punches but what few actually landed Knuckles flawlessly rolled with and they did very little. Knuckles bounced on the balls of his feat throwing powerful blow after powerful blow. The blue hedgehog thought to jump onto the boxes to get way, but every time he moved to jump he left himself open to another shot from the red echidna. There was no way he could get away. Sonic took hits in his gut, on the nose on his shoulder and countless to the face. With a particularly powerful shot to his solar plexus, Sonic doubled over in defeat.

"Your nothing without your speed." Said Knuckles. "Thanks for the help with the mission, but we don't need you anymore."

As Knuckles dropped his guard Sonic lashed out with his foot and kicked him in the nose. A splash of blood erupted from under Sonic's shoe and Knuckles stumbled back, clutching his face and cursing in some language Sonic didn't understand.

"I never needed you or your band of merry men Knuck Knuck. If you want me gone I'm ancient history." Said Sonic

He got to his feet before Knuckles could recover and quickly moved to the loading docks that lead outside. It was disguised by a waterfall, but a trail lead past it and out into the woods. Once he found open ground, Sonic poured on the speed and put as much ground between him and Heartwood, dripping blood from the fight, and eyes slightly wet from what he had just thrown away.

* * *

><p><strong>Robotropolis<strong>

It was dark. The only source of light being the many hi-resolution displays that dotted the walls of the room the largest being over ten feet wide. The air was fouled with the smell of exhaust and spent fuel. All of this was delightful to Dr. Robotnick, but at the moment he was not in a good mood. Not a good mood at all.

Sitting in his large chair that was more all-purpose control station that upholstery he reviews the security tapes again, and again, then again. The chair sat in the center of a suspended platform that formed an X going out to a door on one end, and a platform in front of each computer station at all the others. The lower level contained the various data banks and components to his super computer that monitored everything in his mechanized kingdom and sent his commands to his units. The main screen in front of him was currently playing a slowed down recording of the events that had taken place at Power Plant Gamma 1. It was difficult to tell what the blue blur was on screen, but whatever it was it was fast. So fast Robotnick had yet to be able to find a single frame that could tell him what kind of weapon the freedom fighters had created this time. This irked him, but did not send him into a rage just yet.

Robotnick loved puzzles, he always had. From the moment he had learned to manipulate simple electronics he had been fascinated by how they worked and delighted in improving their functionality. He had thought taking over this pitiful little world would be a wondrous puzzle, but alas, it had been all too easy. The Mobians had a rudimentary military at best, and despite there impressive technology, had failed to develop very effective weapons to combat his mechanical army. The siege lasted a mere month at when the smoke cleared Dr. Robotnick was the near undisputed ruler of Mobius. He soon replaced the smoke of battle and confusion, with the smoke of industry an immediately when to work bulking up his army and preparing for his ultimate goal, but there was no reason not to have some fun along the way.

The inhabitance of Mobius seemed especially receptive to Robotizination, Robotnicks most favorite invention. Through the use of mineral bonding and advanced bio scans the machine was able to take almost any organic life-form and convert it into a robot, complete with a program to make them completely faithful to their new master: Dr. Ivo Robotnick.

Realizing his thoughts had wandered a bit off course Robotnick returned his attention to the main display.

"What are you…" he asked no one in his terrible voice.

Robotnick continued to move through the recording in his methodical way until finaly he found a shot of the weapon, no not a weapon…a hedgehog. Robotnicks black eyes narrowed, and his red glowing pupils grew slightly brighter.

"It can't be…" he muttered to himself, shifting his impressive gurth forward in the chair to get a better look.

Robotnick moved through more of the recording and finally hit a treasure trove of images as the creature faced off with one of his massive war-bots.

"It is you…" he said and then sat back in the chair with his fingers arched, just the hint of a smile on his face. "Most impressive…most impressive indeed…"

The huge man sat for a few moments forming a plan in his mind. Once he felt it was adequate he pressed a button on his chair.

"Snively." He said into the intercom.

"Yes Doctor Robotnick, How can I be of service?" came the reply from a high pitched voice.

"I need a construction team to move out to S Base 06231991 to bring it back up to operational status."

"But sir I thought we had abandoned that project." Replied the voice.

"I'm revising my original conclusion on that project Snivley, have the team outfitted and sent out by 0100 hours."

"Yes Doctor, at once."

Dr. Robotnick arched his fingers again, and his smirk became a full-blown grin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: A Hint of Memory**

Sonic idly chewed the bit of fruit he had found. The forest was full of various fruits, berries and edible roots for those who knew where to look. Sonic had lived on his own for so long he likely could have been a botanist if he had taken the time to hone his skill. It had been several days since he had bolted from the freedom fighters warehouse, having been trounced by Knuckles. He had considered going back and apologizing but his pride forbade it. Who was Knuckles to tell him what to do? "It's not my war. He was just using me." But no matter how much he tried to convince himself a small ache in his heart longed to return.

Thoroughly disgusted with himself he tossed the mostly eaten fruit away and decided he needed to go running to take his mind off things. The woods had proven to be a wonderful training ground. He hadn't been able to achieve full speed with so many obstacles coming at him, but finding new and interesting ways to avoid them had become a new favorite past time.

Sonic blasted off, leaving a small cloud of dust in his wake. Side stepping trees, leaping over bushes, sliding under fallen logs, it was almost to much to handle, but not quite. The foliage bowed as he passed, the leaves blown back by his wake soon after. No sonic booms rang through the forest, but Sonic still had a blast for a good while. Eventually he stopped by a wide stream for a drink of water, and perhaps a shallow dip to cool off. As he finished his second handful of water, he heard a slight whirring sound just above him.

Looking up quickly and immediately on guard he saw a small robot, about the size of a soccer ball, hovering just above the canopy. The center lens was clearly its optical receptor. It was approaching at a leisurely pace and staring directly at the blue hedgehog.

"Hope you got a good look, 'cause that's the last thing you're going to see." Said Sonic preparing to leap and smash

"Hold aggressive response. This unit is non-hostile and incapable of combat. End line."

Sonic hesitated. "You're just trying to trick me."

"Negative. This unit holds a message for '_Experiment 01'._ Please allow time for play back. End line."

"Experiment 01?" said Sonic. "What are you babbling about little drone?"

"Clarification requested. Stand by." Replied the little bot. Sonic was quickly become irritated. He could barely understand the machine though its garbled mechanical voice emulator.

"Requested information found: Experiment 01 description: Erinaceus albiventris, abnormal azure coloration, emerald iris coloration, tan underbelly, often wears red and white sneakers, capable of immense speed…."

"Ok, ok I get it, I'm experiment 01." Interrupted Sonic. "What do you mean experiment? I'm no ones guinea pig, I'm a hedgehog for starters and I've…." Sonic stopped, sudden realization hitting him. "You mean Robotnik don't you? Robotnik's experiment."

"Affirmative. Experiment 01 is property of Master Rototnik. End Line"

"Hey! I'm no one's property!" shouted Sonic. The robot did not attempt to correct him, but simply floated in place. After a few moments, it spoke again.

"Your presence is requested at _location undefined. _To facilitate this request this unit is prepared to lead you to _location undefined._ End Line."

"And why on Mobius would I follow a self admitted Robo-slave?" said Sonic now looking rather bored with this whole situation.

"Query Response: As per Experiment 01's profile, it is believed it is unaware of its past and my suffer from acute amnesia. _Location Undefined_ contains information regarding Experiment 01's past and prime directive. End Query Response."

Sonic considered his options. It was true he could not remember anything beyond about 3 years ago. He had never given it much thought, never needed to. It wasn't that it didn't strike him as strange, far from it. It was more like…whenever he thought about it his mind sort of wandered off somewhere else. Considering it now even that became apparently strange.

"Can…can this location tell me why I can't remember anything? Why I can't even think about remembering anything?"

"Query Response: Unknown, this unit does not contain that information. End Query Response."

Sonic sighed, becoming more frustrated. "Why would you do this? It's not like you feel bad for me."

"Query Response: This unit is under direct orders to extend this invitation and opportunity to Experiment 01. If Experiment 01 refuses no further action is to be taken. End Query Response."

"And if I come with you? What then?" said Sonic finding himself more and more curious.

"Query Response: This unit will then lead you to _Location Undefined_, where further queries can be presented by Experiment 01 to a more knowledgeable unit. End Query Response."

Like most things he did Sonic was quick to respond. "Fine lead the way, but no funny stuff or you're scrap."

"Confirmed." Replied the bot and zipped off.

Momentarily surprised by the bot's sudden departure he blasted off after it. He caught up with it easily. The little bot lead him through the woods. After several hours the woods yielded to grasslands. Sonic wanted to pour on the speed, but the little bot maintained a constant velocity.

"Hey trash can. Can't you go any faster? I'm getting bored down here."

"Query Response: This unit has attained maximum speed. End Query Response."

Sonic could almost sing along with its verbal mannerisms now. "Yeah, well this is going to be lame moving at this speed the whole way….End line." He muttered to himself.

They spend the day traveling. Once the sun began to set the bot stopped suddenly.

"Light sensors indicated inadequate amounts of ambient light for high speed ground travel. Travel will resume when ambient light is sufficient. End Line."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "You could just say it's getting late, let's take a break." When the bot did not respond, sonic made a mattress out of the long grass and laid down to sleep. Several minutes after sun rose the little bot spoke again.

"Light sensors indicate adequate ambient light levels for high speed ground travel. Travel will now resume. End Line."

Somewhat groggy Sonic leaped to his feet. Stretched his legs a bit and let the floating annoyance get some distance ahead of him. With a slight smirk he took off at top speed after the bot. He caught up much too fast and spend most of the rest of the day trying to find ways to pass the time other than run at what he considered a leisurely pace. He ran backwards, zig-zagged past the bot, ran circles around it, eventually even that lost its entertainment value and he found his mind wandering back to Heartwood.

He could not convince himself that he did not care, they were the only people he could remember ever being nice to him, welcoming him into their community. True it was because Knuckles wanted him for their little war, but not all of them knew that. Tails didn't know that, and he still liked and looked up to the blue hedgehog. It occurred to Sonic that he had never said good bye to the little two tailed fox. He must have felt betrayed and angry. Sonic frowned. Then there was Sally, he had come to terms with the fact that he was attracted to her and part of him wanted to know if he could get closer to her. It wasn't love, not really, just a curiosity for now, but perhaps it could be some day? Right?

Sonic shook his head. Romantic thoughts? From this speedy little terror? Yea right.

Soon the bot had stopped for the day and Sonic quickly gathered up some edible roots for a light diner and then sleep.

The third day brought them to a beach and the ocean. Sonic found himself having a bit of déjà vu. However before he could pin the feeling down, the bot turned 90 degrees and headed out over the waves. Sonic stopped hard, cutting two trenches in the sand with his feet.

"Hey! I can't swim! How do I follow you over the water? Hey! Heyyyyy!" but the bot continued on.

"Well that's a bummer." He said and sat down in the sand. He had hoped the little bot would have come back for him, but after an hour of drawing in the sand with his finger it was apparent it was not.

"Well that was a complete waste of time." He said, but as he got up he found himself thinking about running over the water, not just thinking…remembering. He stared over the glistening blue water. It couldn't be that simple could it? If he failed or faltered, he could find himself one permanently soggy hedgehog. Sonic was a notoriously bad swimmer and was known to have nightmares about drowning.

"Well its ether that…or never find out…" he said to himself.

Sonic gave himself a generous amount of land to build up some speed, stretched his legs and bounced on his feet quite a bit more than needed, and when he finally had build up enough nerve he closed his eyes and went for it, a sonic boom trailing behind him. He ran blind for a few moments, then peeked to find himself running across the water like it was solid ground. His eyes bolted open with excitement. Looking back he saw a massive plume of water trailing after him a huge wake behind that. With a whoop of pure joy he activated the rings on his wrists and really turned loose.

The cool spray of the ocean was wonderful, the salty air a welcome treat. Sonic ate up the distance and soon could see a small lad mass approaching and…something in the water? Sonic realized what is was just a hair to late, a mine. The explosion knocked him off his feet and sent him skipping across the water, had he not been going as fast as he was the explosion would have torn him in half.

Keeping his mind focused was an epic feat, but Sonic was just able to twist his body in such a way to get his feet back under him, stumble back into a rhythm and stay above the waves. Releasing his panic with his held breath, Sonic continued his race with physics.

As he got closer and closer to the island more and more mines appeared, just canceled by the waves. Suddenly Sonic found himself very grateful for all the tree dodging he had been doing the past few days. He found he was even able to set off the mines safely and for his amusement with the trailing water plume and wake.

Finally he got close enough to the island to be in the shallows, he slowed down and dipped down into the water to his waist and waded to the beach ware the tiny bot was waiting for him. Behind it was a low steel structure with an open door.

"They thanks for the help, and warning me about the explosive welcome mat, really appreciate it." Said Sonic, malice thick in his voice.

"_Undefined Location_ reached. Please enter the facility at your leisure…"

"End Line." Sonic said with it unamused.

Sonic moved to the stout steel structure. It was unremarkable with a single open door way, he noticed two halves of what were once the door were splayed on the ground, torn open as if they had been made of tin.

Entering the doorway revealed a long semi-lit tunnel that ended in an elevator shaft. Sonic leaped to the opposite wall, then to the other, and back again, keeping his decent slowed and under control. At the bottom of the shaft were the remains of what may have once been a platform elevator, but were now just bits of jagged metal. A painted label on the wall indicated this was sub level 1. Continuing his search revealed very little. Most of the other rooms he encountered were ether robot workshops or various maintenance access ports. Sonic felt as if he were being lead by some invisible force, almost like he knew where he was going, retracing the steps of some long forgotten dream.

After descending a few more levels Sonic found himself on sub level 5 and wandered into a circular room with various tubes, large enough to hold a full grown Mobian, lining the walls. Next to them were several steel tanks with peeling labels that Sonic could not decipher. A computer monitoring station squatted on one wall, with complex looking controls and multiple screens, all of which were turned off now. An ominous steel table sat in the center of the room, bolted to metal grating. Arrays of horrible metal tools were poised over the table attached to robotic arms that were in turn bolted a central hub on the ceiling.

"It's like coming home isn't it hedgehog?" said a voice behind Sonic that made him jump.

Through the same door Sonic had entered came a portly man, dressed in a red, black and yellow suit with spiked shoulder guards. The bottom portion being black, the top portion being red along with the shoulder guards. Where the man's belly protruded most the yellow formed a circle with the center cut out to show black, connected to yellow lines running up to the man's neck, down the opposite direction past his waste, as well as another line that wrapped around him like a belt, all this forming a sort of plus sign. On his back was a yellow cape that trailed dramatically behind him. His boots looked remarkably heavy, likely full of tech, and made from some high strength alloy. Simple black gloves covered his hands and a huge orange mustache sprouted from just under his nose reaching past his cheeks and standing at attention as though it was afraid to droop, fairing at the ends like old broom bristles. The man's bald head shone with a slight glare in the dim light. Despite all of this flamboyant garb, the thing that drew Sonic's attention most here the eyes, those terrible, red, glowing pupils set against malicious black. These were not the eyes of an organic being, but they eyes of a robot, set into the sockets of a terrible man. A man bent on domination, a man who delighted in pain, a man called Dr. Robotnik.

"Home? Not me. I don't have a home, I just go where the wind takes me." Replied Sonic.

Behind Dr. Robotnic entered seven of the humanoid robots with domed heads and red slits for eyes, already they had weapons drawn. Sonic scowled.

"Oh, my dear boy, don't be put off by these old things, they are just some protection for a feeble, paranoid old man." Looking almost hurt that Sonic would think he was up to no good.

"What do you want Robotnik? I know it was your bot that lead me here, but I expected a computer bank or something, not the head honcho himself." Said Sonic, lowering his guard just a bit.

"That is true," said Robotnik, "I instructed the little sky spy to lead you here, but no data bank here holds the information you seek. Only I; Dr. Ivo Robotnik posses the knowledge that you seek." As he spoke Robotnik paced around the room moving closer to the blue hedgehog, Sonic unconsciously circling with him as if in a showdown.

"I went to a lot of trouble to get you here, reactivating and repairing the power conduits that lead to this submarine facility, resupplying it with air. I'm afraid the repairs are not quite complete, I had hoped to have this facility back to 100% operating efficiency before you arrived but alas you arrived a few days earlier that I had anticipated. Quite impressive I might add, but now I'm rambling. This meeting is about you, not me. So ask, ask me your questions and will answer you to the best of my ability." Said Robotnik

Sonic thought for a few moments, he knew what he wanted to know, but he felt silly. What was he doing here? Was he really talking with Dr. Robotnik?

"I want to know…who I am." Said Sonic almost to himself.

"Who you are my dear boy? Well that is a philosophical question for the ages I'm afraid, who are any of us? More accurately I believe you are asking me, where did you come from. Am I correct? Or perhaps, what is your purpose?"

Sonic was rather put off by Robotnik's condescending tone, this man acted like he was talking to a child, or a particularly dull student.

"Yeah, that's right." Said Sonic, not thinking of anything clever to say.

"The short answer is that you came from here, this room in fact. I made you, just as I make all my other robots. I fabricated the parts, I assimilated them into a single functioning body, I programmed your mind to control those parts."

Sonic was speechless, and could only stammer incomprehensibly.

"Your purpose, at first, was to explore the path of organic robotics. After all, what are beings like myself or Mobians but robots comprised of flesh and bone instead of steel and silicone? In theory if I could create the parts, keep them in working order and assemble them correctly, why couldn't I create an organic android?"

Sonic felt a heavy stone forming in his gut.

"As I closed in on the actual construction phase, it occurred to me that, like other robots I had created, I could make an organic robot that specialized in one field, in your case; speed. A bit overzealous I admit, after all, all my theories and methods were only on paper, but I'm not where I am now because of poor decision making and overestimating my abilities."

Sonic shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh yes, you were the culmination of all these theories. After several failed attempts and construction, I was finally able to build an organic robot that survived, you. Unfortunately my theories on organic programming proved to be… lacking, to say the least. Upon activation, you panicked, destroyed your handlers, stole technology that was being studied in another part of the lab," Robotnik motioned to the rings on Sonic's wrists. "and fled the facility before reinforcements could be called."

"I…I…" Sonic was dumb founded but suddenly found his voice. "I AM NOT A ROBOT!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, his cry echoing far into the facility.

"Not in the traditional sense I suppose." Replied the portly man, unmoved by the burst of emotion. "But not much different than others I have created."

"No, no! you can't… you…you're lying!" yelled Sonic.

"You came here to learn the truth; I arranged this meeting so that you could do just that. I didn't have to. I could have simply had you killed, which I would have done if you were simply some freedom fighter, but I'm more interested in continuing my research in the field of organic robotics. Come with me hedgehog, come with me and we can find a purpose for you, a place in my mechanical army. Learn your true potential together."

Sonic shook his head in disbelief. Robotnik moved to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly fire burned in the green eyes of the hedgehog.

"My name is Sonic, and I'll find my OWN purpose!" with astonishing speed Sonic ducked out from Robotnik's grasp, spun on the floor, kicking over one of the large metal tanks behind them, and dashed through the entourage of guards with a blue energy field summoned by the rings and was in the hall before the huge metal tank had hit the floor, but before it hit the floor it hit something else.

Sonic heard Robotnik cry out in agony as the tank crushed the arm that had been holding his shoulder.

"Get him! GET HIM YOU FOOLS! Don't let him escape!"

Suddenly the corridor was full of the humanoid robots, before they could register the threat, most of them were blasted apart by the blue missile racing down the path they had stepped into. Not remembering the path he had gone to get there, and unable to read the labels at the speed he was going, Sonic soon found himself quite lost, and then cornered.

He stopped dead in what appeared to be some kind of traffic control station, with massive glass windows looking off into the endless ocean depths. Within moments the room was filled with the robot guards. The room was too small to build up much momentum, and Sonic was sure they would blast him before he could take out very many of them. He picked up a large wrench that happened to be sitting on one of the panels. If robots could laugh, Sonic knew they would be doing so.

"Any last words hedgehog?" asked the lead bot as they raised there weapons.

"Yea," said Sonic with a smirk. "Surf's up."

And with that he hurled the heavy wrench at the glass, shattering it. Hundreds of gallons of water erupted into the room in seconds. Sonic was rolled, tossed and twisted in the turbulent water loosing any sense of up or down, left and right. When he finally stopped spinning he found himself out in the open water. He stifled his panic, and began to swim towards what he hoped was dry land. The sea floor soon came up to meet him. Covered in various strange looking plants and multicolored coral. It was beautiful, but went unappreciated by the slowly suffocating hedgehog.

He bolted for the surface, lungs burning for precious air, but has he came close to the surface he noticed various flying machines combing the water. With no other option but to drown, Sonic broke the surface, force the stagnant air out, and gulped a mouthful of fresh air into his lungs before immediately diving back under the surface followed closely by several laser bolts. Luckily, such bolts lose most of their energy only several feet under water as the refraction scattered the light.

Sonic swam frantically, not knowing exactly where he was going. The measly gulp of air he had swallowed was running out rapidly, but he knew the war bots above would be tracing him now, and would not miss the next time he came up. Starting to panic he suddenly noticed a stream of bubbles from the ocean floor. Sonic dove, and his efforts were rewarded. A huge pipe was laying on the ocean floor, a label marked O2 showed him it was exactly what he wanted.

Holding his nose, sonic sealed his mouth around the source of the bubbles and drank in the sweet air. Now of a sounder mind, Sonic looked around and saw the pipe leading off toward what he hoped was the shore. The pipe was in bad shape and was leaking air all along its path. Sonic smiled to himself and began moving slowly (for him) along the bottom of the ocean, stopping at his leisure to breathe some air. Looking up, the light was fading, meaning the sun was starting to go down. Perhaps, if he could find shore, he could lose the war bots in the night, and if the pained ranting of Dr. Robotnik later in his fortress was any indication, he did just that.


End file.
